忘情 (wàng qíng) — to suppress one's emotions, to become unfeeling; to let oneself go, to give in completely to one's feelings

Definition

忘情 (wàngqíng) is a verb that swings between two opposite emotional poles: 'to become unfeeling, to suppress emotion' (often in negative contexts like 不能忘情) versus 'to lose oneself in feeling, to abandon restraint' (often as 忘情地 + verb).

verb
to suppress one's emotionsto become unfeelingto let oneself go, to give in completely to one's feelings
Easily confused

Examples

  • 忘情。
    Tā duì guò qù de shì zǎo yǐ wàng qíng.
    He has long since become emotionally detached from past events.
  • 忘情。
    Nà yí kè tā wán quán wàng qíng dì tóu rù le wǔ dǎo.
    At that moment she gave herself over completely to the dance.
  • 忘情。
    Tā duì gù xiāng shǐ zhōng bù néng wàng qíng.
    He has never been able to forget his attachment to his hometown.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

忘wàngforget
情qíngfeeling

忘 removes 情, so one becomes cold to feeling or lets oneself go.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
心心xīnheart
Sound part声符shēngfú
亡
亡wáng忘wàng
Same sound today

忘 combines 亡, which gives the sound, with 心 (“heart”), showing the sense is about the heart or mind.

Open 忘 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
心心xīnheart
Sound part声符shēngfú
青
青qīng情qíng
Same sound today

情 shows 心 (heart) beside 青, which gives the sound. The heart part points to feelings and inner states.

Open 情 →

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